


Cuff Me

by Spikedluv



Category: Taxi Brooklyn
Genre: Community: trope_bingo, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 10:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3647298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spikedluv/pseuds/Spikedluv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ronnie told Officer Steve Henderson that he could use his handcuffs on him, this wasn’t how he’d pictured things playing out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cuff Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the fourth round of Trope Bingo on DW for the _handcuffed/bound together_ square. They’re not technically handcuffed ~together, but they’re both handcuffed so I’m counting it. *g* Title from _Cuff Me: The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody_ , because I couldn’t ~not.
> 
> Written: March 30, 2015

“When I said I wanted you to use your cuffs on me,” Ronnie groaned, “this isn’t what I had in mind.”

“About time you woke up,” Steve said from behind him. “How’s your head?” His voice was gruff, but he somehow still managed to sound concerned.

“I’m trying not to think about it,” Ronnie said, wincing.

His head felt like it was going to roll right off his neck if he moved it too much. Plus, there was a tacky line down the side of his face which was probably dried blood from where someone had slammed something into his head.

“Do you know what they want?” Ronnie asked, trying not to think about the pain in his own head, or the way Steve had crumpled, jerking like a puppet with its strings cut when someone had walked up to him and tased him right outside the police station where Ronnie had been waiting for Leo and Steve had just gotten off duty. Of course Ronnie had taken the opportunity to get his flirt on, until they’d been rudely interrupted.

“No one’s come in since they left us here. Probably waiting for you to wake up,” Steve said as he tested the cuffs.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to figure out a way for us to get out of here before they come back,” Steve said, as if it was obvious.

And in retrospect it probably was. Ronnie blamed his head injury.

Ronnie tried to move his arms, which were cuffed behind his back. He frowned, making his head ache more. “How are we even . . . ?”

“Pretty sure they’ve threaded the cuffs through the slats in the back of the chair,” Steve said. “As well as through the other cuff chain.”

“So we can’t stand up?”

“No.”

“Can we break the chairs?” Ronnie said, twisting his head in an attempt to get a look at the chair.

“I tried rocking mine, but it feels pretty sturdy,” Steve said.

Ronnie tried rocking the chair he was cuffed to, but Steve was right, there was no give he could take advantage of, and if he tipped over he’d probably break his arm before he broke the chair.

“Are you a crooked cop?” Ronnie said as he felt the cuffs. “Did you steal money from these guys? Or drugs?”

“No,” Steve said. “Did you?”

“Touche,” Ronnie said as he tried to reach into his waistband. “But no. Maybe they mistook me for someone famous and they think they can hold me for ransom.”

Steve snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what it is. Why’d they take both of us, though? And what are you doing?”“

“I’m trying to get the safety pin out of my pants so I can pick the lock on these cuffs.”

“You have a safety pin in your pants?”

“Yes. You never know when you might need one, so I usually keep one pinned inside my waistband. But I’m having a little trouble getting to it like this.”

“Here, let me . . .”

Steve found Ronnie’s fingers and then grabbed his waistband and folded it back.

“I knew you wanted to get into my pants,” Ronnie said as he opened the pin. Now that he didn’t have to hold the waistband as well, it went rather quickly.

“You got me there,” Steve said dryly.

Ronnie eased the pin out of the material, only poking himself twice. “Got it,” he said.

“Concentrate on your own cuff,” Steve said, then paused.

Ronnie felt Steve turn his head. “What?” Ronnie said as he bent the pin open.

“They’re coming.”

“Swell,” Ronnie said, closing his hand around the pin to hide it.

Moments later, the door to the room in which they were being kept slammed open. The men who entered looked like they’d been hoping to startle them with their sudden appearance.

“Did Leo put you up to this?” Ronnie said, firm in his belief that a good offense was the best defense. “Because I like cuffs as much as the next guy, but this might be taking things too far. You’re a cutie, though.” Ronnie forced his voice to drop and managed a wink that he hoped didn’t look as much like the grimace he imagined it did.

The three men looked surprised that Ronnie wasn’t begging for his life, but the guy who’d entered the room last recovered first. “Shut up,” he said. “We’ll be asking the questions.”

“Kinky,” Ronnie said, then pressed his lips together to indicate that he’d be quiet, since he couldn’t mime zipping them.

“Just tell us where they are,” said the guy Ronnie was now thinking of as Thing One.

“Where *what* are?” Steve said. “We have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb,” Thing One said. He looked at the guy standing next to him – Thing Two – and gestured with his head.

Thing Two punched Steve.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, stop!” Ronnie said.

“Are you ready to tell us what we want to know?” Thing One said.

“Yes!” Ronnie said. “I’ll tell you everything I know. What is it you’re looking for again?” he asked

Ronnie didn’t see the gesture this time, but he saw Thing Three’s fist swinging at his face just before it made contact with his jaw.

“Ow, fuck,” Ronnie groaned. He probed his mouth with his tongue. None of his teeth seemed loose, but he had a split lip that would be difficult to cover. “Don’t get blood on this shirt; it’ll cost a fortune to dry clean.”

Steve sighed. “Listen, we don’t know you, and we don’t know what you want.” It sounded to Ronnie as if he was gritting his teeth, or maybe Thing Two had broken his jaw.

“Where,” Thing One said. “Are the diamonds?”

“Diamonds!” Ronnie said. He leaned back and touched the back of his head to Steve’s. “Did you steal diamonds from these nice gentlemen?”

“No,” Steve ground out. “Are you sure you have the right guys?” he directed to Thing One.

“Of course we have the right guys,” Thing One said, but he didn’t sound sure.

At a gesture, Thing Three pulled something out of his pocket. Ronnie flinched, but it was only a cell phone. He took a photo of Ronnie, and then one of Steve. A moment later the three men were gone.

“Hurry up and pick that cuff,” Steve said. “When they find out they’ve got the wrong guys, they’ll be back to kill us.”

“So no pressure,” Ronnie said as he got the end of the pin into the lock, barely noticing the scratch on his wrist.

Ronnie felt Steve moving behind him, and then the clink as one cuff fell free. Steve leaned forward and carefully pulled the loose cuff through the slats in the back of the chair and around Ronnie’s cuff chain, and then he stood.

“How did you do that?” Ronnie said, not pausing in his own attempt to get free.

Steve held up his hand to show Ronnie. “I dislocated my thumb once, and now I can dislocate it when I need to.”

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Ronnie said.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Steve said, groaning softly when he popped his thumb back into place and hissing out, “Fuck!”

Steve moved his chair away from Ronnie and tested the slats along the back of Ronnie’s chair.

“Can you break them?”

“I don’t know. Lean forward and hold still, I’m going to try kicking them.”

It took two kicks before the wood creaked and a third before it snapped. Steve pulled the slat out of the way enough that he could free Ronnie’s cuffs, which made it a bit easier for him to work on the lock.

“Keep working,” Steve hissed as he re-situated his own chair and sat back down with his arms behind his back, one cuff dangling. A moment later the door swung open and Thing Three stood there. He held a gun pointed at them.

“This is embarrassing,” Thing Three said.

“Mistaken identity can happen to anyone,” Ronnie said. “Does that mean you’re letting us go?”

Thing Three shook his head. “Sorry.”

“Me, too,” Ronnie said, just as Steve rose and grabbed the chair he’d been sitting in and swung it at Thing Three.

Thing Three moved the gun he’d reflexively trained on Ronnie while they were talking towards Steve, but it was too late. Steve slammed the chair into Thing Three’s arm, knocking the gun out of his hand. The gun went off when it hit the floor and Ronnie screamed in surprised pain at the burn along his calf. Steve swung the chair a second time, this time at Thing Three’s head, and Thing Three went down hard. Steve held the chair raised for a moment until he was sure Thing Three was down for the count, and then he lowered it and hurried back to Ronnie.

“You’re going to be fine,” Steve said as he took the pin from Ronnie’s fingers and unlocked the cuff around one wrist.

“How’d you do that so fast?” Ronnie said.

“Are you complaining?” Steve said as he helped Ronnie bring his arms in front of him. “It helped that I could see what I was doing.”

Ronnie shook the pins (ha!) and needles out of his arms while Steve unlocked the remaining cuff on his own wrist. He gave the pin back to Ronnie and then used the cuffs on Thing Three.

While Steve knelt beside him, he checked Thing Three’s pockets. “Probably should’ve done this before,” he said, then shook his head. “No key.”

Steve picked up the pistol and cleared it before reinserting the magazine into the well and racking the slide to chamber a round. “I’m going to fire,” he warned before aiming the gun at the wooden chair he’d used to knock out Thing Three and pulling the trigger. “They expected two shots,” he explained. “It might buy us some time.”

Ronnie finally got his cuff unlocked. He pinned the safety pin back into his waistband out of habit. He tried to stand up, but Steve pushed him back into the chair.

“Let me look at your leg.” Steve knelt in front of Ronnie and carefully set the gun on the floor pointing away from them.

“It’s fine,” Ronnie said, but he sat back down and let Steve push up his pant leg.

“Yeah, you’re going to be okay,” Steve said.

“That’s what I said,” Ronnie said, but he didn’t complain when Steve ripped a strip off the bottom of his t-shirt and tied it around his leg.

“What are you doing after we get out of here?” Ronnie said, letting Steve help him to his feet.

“Probably a lot of paperwork,” Steve said.

Ronnie snorted.

“Keep the cuffs,” Steve said. “We might need them later.”

“Really,” Ronnie said.

Steve rolled his eyes, but his cheeks pinked up a little bit. “For the bad guys.”

“Oh. Bummer.”

Steve picked up the pistol and led the way. Ronnie shoved one of the cuffs into the waistband of his pants and picked up a piece of the broken chair just in case he needed a weapon, and then hobbled after him.

Steve peered out the door and then gestured for Ronnie to follow him. They were in a long hallway with stairs at one end. They were halfway to the stairs when a disembodied voice said, “Carl should’ve been back by now,” and feet appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Back!” Steve hissed. He turned and pushed Ronnie ahead of him.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Ronnie breathed as each hurried step sent a shock of pain up his leg.

“Get behind the door,” Steve said as he took his place on the other side of the open doorway.

“Carl!” called a voice that Ronnie now recognized as Thing Two. “Carl, what the hell’s going on?” Thing Two’s footsteps slowed.

“He’s busy sucking my dick,” Ronnie called back and Thing Two quickened his pace again.

“Wha–?” Thing Two said when he appeared in the doorway.

Steve reached out and grabbed Thing Two’s arm, dragging him into the room before he could process the empty and broken chairs and sound the alarm. Ronnie swung the piece of wood he’d scavenged and Thing Two dropped like a rock. Ronnie pulled the cuffs out from the back of his pants and handed them to Steve. While Steve cuffed Thing Two, Ronnie retrieved the pistol he’d dropped when he fell, which had skittered across the room.

“Thing One is going to be waiting for us,” Ronnie said as he cleared the gun.

“You know how to use that?” Steve said.

“Three tours in Iraq,” Ronnie said.

“I think I’m a little bit turned on right now,” Steve said.

Ronnie laughed, surprised. “Just a little bit?”

Steve blushed, and Ronnie wondered just how far down it went.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

They walked down the hallway, backs to the wall, listening for any sound that meant Thing One was waiting for them. Steve looked up at the doorway when they reached the stairs. He shook his head; he couldn’t see anything.

“I’ll go up first,” Steve said. “I’ll be able to move faster than you. Cover me.”

Ronnie nodded. “Stay low.”

Ronnie pressed his back to the wall and aimed his pistol at the doorway, ready for Thing One to make an appearance, while Steve crept silently up the stairs. Steve was about two-thirds of the way up when Thing One showed himself. He fired off a shot, but he was aiming chest high, and Steve had stayed low.

Ronnie eased the trigger back and Thing One got a surprised look on his face before he swore and backpedaled. Steve put on a burst of speed and followed him. Ronnie swore and went after them as quickly as he could, ignoring the pain in his leg and the warm sensation of blood oozing down his leg.

Gunshots rang out when he reached the top of the stairs. Ronnie poked his head out carefully to make sure the way was clear, and then he headed in the direction the shots had come from. He walked into a standoff.

“Drop your gun,” Ronnie told Thing One.

Steve had to duck back behind cover when Thing One fired at him, but was able to get a shot off when Thing One turned his attention to Ronnie. Red bloomed on Thing One’s shoulder and he dropped his gun. He reached for it with his other hand, but by then Steve stood over him.

“I wouldn’t, if I were you.”

Thing One pulled his hand back. Steve found some rope and tied Thing One’s hands behind him, then sat him against a wall away from anything he could use for a weapon.. He found a chair for Ronnie and pushed him down into it.

“Your leg’s started to bleed again.”

“It’s fine,” Ronnie said, but it sounded weak even to his own ears.

Steve found their cell phones and called it in. Ronnie wished he could pay more attention to him, because he had a competence kink and Officer Henderson was pinging it hard right now.

Ronnie must’ve lost a little bit of time, because the next thing he knew Steve was kneeling beside him. “I’m going to go down and check on the other two. Are you going to be alright?”

Ronnie nodded.

“Keep an eye on him, okay?” Steve indicated Thing One. “And don’t shoot yourself in the foot.”

“Ha, ha,” Ronnie said.

It seemed like moments later the place was crawling with police. The pistol was carefully taken out of his hand and Ronnie gave a brief, if slightly incoherent, statement. Leo showed up with Cat and two EMTs who checked out Ronnie’s head and leg before loading him onto a gurney. Steve was across the room giving a statement of his own, but Ronnie didn’t want to leave without saying something to him – thank you, goodbye. Call me.

“Hey,” Steve said as they rolled the gurney out to the ambulance.

“How’d you get over here so fast?” Ronnie asked.

Steve’s lips twitched. “Nice job helping to get us out of there.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ve got mad skillz,” Ronnie said.

Steve looked like he wanted to smile again. “They’ve got you on the good drugs, don’t they?”

“Oh, yeah. You know, you should smile more often. It looks good on you.”

The tips of Steve’s ears turned red. “Thanks.”

Ronnie found himself wondering once more just how far down his blush went, but before he could ask someone called out to Steve. He looked over, then back to Ronnie. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you later,” Steve said, and started to walk away.

“Hey, wait, you never told me how you learned to pick the lock on your cuffs!”

Steve stepped closer to Ronnie so he didn’t have to yell. “One of my instructors at the Academy told us a story about how he’d once been caught handcuffed in his own department issue cuffs. He said we never wanted that to happen to us.” Steve smiled. “But that’s not where I learned how to do it.” He winked at Ronnie and then walked away.

“Hey!” Ronnie called after him. He could still hear Steve’s chuckle after they loaded him into the ambulance and closed the doors.

Well, if that didn’t give Ronnie incentive to get better so he could look up Steve and get the full story, nothing would.

The End


End file.
